Hefty® Diverts One Million Pounds Of Hard-To-Recycle Plastics From Landfills

Groundbreaking Hefty® EnergyBag® program surpasses key milestone in combating plastic waste with plans to expand into even more cities across the U.S.

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Hefty

Mar 05, 2020, 06:00 ET

LAKE FOREST, Ill., March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Reynolds Consumer Products announced a monumental milestone for its groundbreaking Hefty® EnergyBag® program. The innovative program, stemming from the brand's commitment to helping create end-of-life solutions for plastic waste across the United States, has officially diverted over one million pounds of hard-to-recycle plastics from landfills.

National Geographic estimates that as of 2017, 79% of plastic waste in the United States ends up in landfills, which includes hard-to-recycle plastics such as candy wrappers, packing peanuts, straws and foam carry-out containers. The Hefty® EnergyBag® program gives consumers in participating markets the ability to collect these hard-to-recycle items and see them converted into valuable resources rather than getting taken out with the trash.

"We are really proud of surpassing our ambitious goal of diverting one million pounds in just three years," said Lindsey Walter, Director of the Hefty® EnergyBag® program. "We are grateful to the many people and communities out there who have embraced this program as something we can all do together to make our world a little bit better."

In partnership with Dow and other community collaborators, the Hefty® EnergyBag® program was set up to complement existing recycling programs, allowing hard-to-recycle plastics to be picked up at curbside.

Participants simply place hard-to-recycle plastics in the Hefty® orange bag, tie the bag when full and place it in their curbside recycling cart or bin. Once collected, the plastics are converted into valuable resources including fuel and new plastic products like park benches, composite decking and concrete blocks. The signature bright orange bags used for collection make it easy for recycling facilities to separate and forward the materials they cannot process, so the hard-to-recycle plastics don't contaminate other recycling streams.

"We are grateful for Hefty's partnership and their ability to help galvanize people so that we all can do our part to help minimize hard-to-recycle waste by converting it into valuable resources," said Julie Zaniewski, Dow's North America sustainability director for Packaging & Specialty Plastics. "We are encouraged by people's desire to be a part of the program and the impressive growth it has seen thus far."

Since inception in Omaha, Nebraska, in 2016, the EnergyBag® program has expanded to 13 communities across the United States, making it available to more than 500,000 households.

"Though the EnergyBag® program on its own cannot eliminate all the issues associated with plastic waste, we are proud to have created a mechanism that allows people to do their part in partnership with us," said Walter. "We have aggressive expansion goals and are working to identify more end uses of the materials as quickly as possible."

Consumers can learn more about the Hefty® EnergyBag® program, including whether their community participates, and can also sign up to request the program in their city by visiting www.heftysustainability.com.

About Reynolds Consumer Products
Reynolds Consumer Products (REYN: Nasdaq) is a leading provider of household products that simplify daily life so you can enjoy what matters most. Our Reynolds® and Hefty® brand products help make mealtime easier with preparation, cooking, cleanup, and storage solutions. For more information, visit ReynoldsConsumerProducts.com and HeftyEnergyBag.com.

About Dow
Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines global breadth, asset integration and scale, focused innovation and leading business positions to achieve profitable growth. The Company's ambition is to become the most innovative, customer centric, inclusive and sustainable materials science company. Dow's portfolio of plastics, industrial intermediates, coatings and silicones businesses delivers a broad range of differentiated science-based products and solutions for its customers in high-growth market segments, such as packaging, infrastructure and consumer care. Dow operates 109 manufacturing sites in 31 countries and employs approximately 36,500 people. Dow delivered sales of approximately $43 billion in 2019. References to Dow or the Company mean Dow Inc. and its subsidiaries. For more information, please visit www.dow.com or follow @DowNewsroom on Twitter.

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SOURCE Hefty